


Legal Affairs

by MxTicketyBoo, OhNoHello



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boss/Employee Relationship, Eventual Smut, Lawyers, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Porn With Plot, Possessive Ares, Power Dynamics, Power Imbalance, aggressive flirting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:34:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28943784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MxTicketyBoo/pseuds/MxTicketyBoo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhNoHello/pseuds/OhNoHello
Summary: When Thanatos is hired as a junior lawyer for Mamertus & Associates, the very last thing he expects is his uncomfortable attraction to his new boss, Ares. And Ares can smell blood in the water.At every turn, Ares challenges Thanatos to be better, bolder, to put both his manners and morals aside. Thanatos wants to hate Ares’ ego, but no one’s ever heated his blood like this before.The courtroom is a battlefield. Love is too.
Relationships: Ares/Thanatos (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We're not lawyers and we don't claim to be especially knowledgeable about the topic, but look, we know you're not here for the law, you dirty perverts. ;D
> 
> Love, 
> 
> Some equally dirty perverts <3

The conference room was a special kind of ostentatious. A subdued, subtle array of interior design choices that radiated status. Dark woods, tall windows, the company name fixed to the wall like some kind of trophy. Mamertus & Associates, P.C., it read in frosted over lettering. 

Thanatos stared at the severe corners of the straighter letters. They looked like they could cut through a man. 

He had been waiting for a few minutes, quietly sitting in the room, left to stew as if he were a person of interest in a police station. Idly, he wondered if it was a delay tactic, to rile up his nerves. 

It was working. 

He picked at the thick cotton paper he had chosen for his resume, smoothing over the already unblemished edges and feeling the way his life achievements had been stamped so thoroughly into the cream colored pulp. He knew better than to fidget and immediately dropped his hand into his lap. 

He stared out the windows, the firm planted so high above the city he could probably observe the comings and goings of every inhabitant of the population. 

Like ants. 

Thanatos had never felt smaller. 

The door clicked open and the most put together woman Thanatos had ever seen walked in, full of purpose and brisk strides. Dressed in a gray pantsuit adorned with gold accents and large gold statement earrings, her calm demeanor betrayed by the haughty airs she radiated. A sense of betterment, expectations not just for herself but for everyone around her. 

Thanatos sat up a little straighter. 

“You must be Thanatos,” she said, looking at the print out in her hand. A less impressive version of his resume. “I’m Athena Pallas.” 

She walked into the room, hand outstretched, golden nails looking more like claws. Thanatos stood up and shook her hand. 

“Thanatos Chthonic,” he said. 

“And this is my associate, Ares.” 

Thanatos did not miss the man that followed behind her. A towering structure that filled out his suit and did not hide the power beneath. He wore a deep red shirt and a dark black tie, looking more like a void of blood that dripped beneath the white. 

Thanatos held out his hand for Ares to shake as well. 

“Pleasure,” Ares said in a smooth tone. He gripped Thanatos’ hand tight, almost as a dare to fight back. 

Thanatos already knew of both of them. He knew what they looked like from their photos on the firm’s website. He knew of their most major cases. What they had won, what they had lost. That Athena Pallas was the cutthroat attorney that would probably make any grown human weep in a corner after going toe to toe with her. That Ares was the Mamertus of the name and head partner of the firm. That he didn’t get there without leaving a bloody trail behind him. 

What he didn’t know is what they were looking for out of a junior lawyer. 

"Thank you so much for coming in," Athena said, holding out a hand and indicating the seat Thanatos had just rose from. Thanatos noticed that there was no apology about keeping him waiting. They did not seem like the type to apologize. 

“Thank you for having me,” Thanatos said, knowing better than to say ‘you’re welcome’ to people like that. 

“Do you need any water? Coffee?” Athena asked. Ares took the seat next to her, cool and impassive and unreadable. 

“No thank you, I’m fine.” 

“Good,” Athena said and almost sounded pleased. She folded her hands on the table top and stared Thanatos down. She had an air of professional courtesy, an accommodating and amicable personality that Thanatos knew was a front. 

Ares gave no such impression. Pure intimidation with an unblinking stare. 

“So,” she said, sliding into the uncomfortable process. “Tell us a little about yourself.” 

Vague. Bland. A trap. 

Thanatos wished he’d taken up that water. He shifted in his seat and looked Athena dead in the eye. 

“I graduated summa cum laude from Elysium for my undergrad and graduated last year from Olympus,” he listed off facts as if reading a grocery list. “I passed the bar a couple of months ago and have been looking for a full time position since. I interned at Hades LLC for insurance fraud and worked a few cases on my own. And–”

“Tell me about that,” Athena interrupted. 

Thanatos choked and looked up at her with wide eyes. 

“About?” 

“A case you worked, tell me about one,” she said. 

“Oh. Well.” Thanatos cleared his throat. His eyes flitted to Ares, red eyes still intense and pinning him down like a mounted butterfly. “I was asked in the final months of my internship to work through a case concerning a warehouse fire with some property damage and. . . loss of life. It's still ongoing so I can’t talk specifics, but I worked the defense side that my client did not start the fire and that the conspiracy around it was slander.” 

“Sounds a little difficult,” Athena said, leaning on the back of folded hands. 

“At times,” Thanatos admitted. 

“Was there any difficult court members you had to work with?” she asked. 

“Well.” Thanatos’ eyes darted between the two of them. “I don’t want to speak ill of others–”

“This is not a field for manners,” Ares finally spoke up. 

Thanatos stared the man down, sitting up a little straighter. He squared his jaw. Fine. If he wanted to play, Thanatos would play. 

“The prosecution attorney could be a little. . . inflammatory at times,” he said and Athena snorted out of humor. “Both towards my client, the case, and my character.” 

“And how did you handle that?” Athena asked. 

“I disregarded it,” Thanatos said haughtily. Perfectly manicured brows rose at the response. “His rhetoric was not relevant to the case and it was my job to keep the task at hand as the priority. Not engage in petty squabbles and waste time.” 

“Hmm.” Athena wrote a note down in the margin of the printed out resume. 

Thanatos didn’t give into the urge to look and instead refocused on Ares. A soft smile touched the corners of the man’s lips. 

“Well I can only hope your replacement is following in your footsteps,” Athena said, putting a punctuation on her note with a sharp jab. “And the client. How did you gain their trust? How would you go about gaining the client’s trust in future cases?” 

Thanatos remembered sitting Sisyphus down, looking him square in the eye, and asking him if he’d done it. At first, the man insisted no and Thanatos knew he was lying, but feigned belief. Let the man think he was just some naive college grad who would buy into anything that was sold to him. As their case continued to unfold and the emails back and forth with Sisyphus’ co-conspirators came to light, Thanatos asked him again. He reassured that he was on Sisyphus’ side. 

He was chained to the man after all. 

After that it was a matter of obfuscation, misdirection, and wearing Sisyphus’ insurance company down until it was easier for them to simply settle. 

Thanatos was glad he didn’t have to deal with the loss of life version of that case. 

“I was direct,” he said, unable to give away much more of the case. “Upfront and honest and reassuring.” 

Athena hummed at that and took another note.

“With future clients,” Thanatos floundered. “I would remain at their side and let them know that no matter the situation, I was _their_ lawyer and my best interest is their case.” 

“Morals aside,” Ares bluntly added for him. 

Another trap, to see what kind of man they would be working with. Ares seemed very interested in Thanatos’ answer. 

“The client comes first,” Thanatos said. 

“And if it was a client you’d be uncomfortable taking?” Athena asked, not looking up from her notes. 

“I wouldn’t take them on,” Thanatos said matter-of-factly. 

“What if you were told to?” Athena’s sharp eyes darted up, as pointed as spears. 

Thanatos looked directly at her, not blinking, not backing down. 

“I would have to weigh my options then,” Thanatos said. “If it would be worth my time to keep a position I didn’t agree with or to simply get more. . .” 

Like a magnet, Thanatos’ gaze was once again snapped back to those blood red eyes. There was a quiet thirst he saw there, a hum of blood that quickened Thanatos’ pace. 

“Comfortable,” he said. 

If the smile was any indicator, it was exactly what Ares wanted to hear. 

“Uncomfortable situations are unfortunately our bread and butter here,” Athena said, folding her hands. “What made you interested in our firm? Why not stay in insurance?” 

“I. . .” Thanatos chose his words carefully. “I went into insurance through nepotism, if I’m being candid. My mother owned the firm.” 

“Ah,” Athena said with a little laughter on her voice. 

“Not to say that I didn’t pull my weight once I got there, I merely used the resources available to me,” Thanatos said. “They just happened to be handed over. But I’m far more interested in criminal defense.” 

“Insurance gave you a taste for it?” Ares asked bloodlessly, seeing right through Thanatos’ careful words. 

Thanatos twisted his neck, his tie suddenly too tight. He tilted his chin just shy of cracking. 

“It gave me a certain perspective that there is more than one or two or even three ways to view a case,” he said. “That not every criminal is deserving the crime and that there are multifaceted layers to each instance. I was interested in working in that field.” 

“Criminal defense is quite different from white-collar defense,” Athena said matter-of-factly. 

Thanatos opened his mouth to speak, taking in a quiet breath. He closed it again and cleared his throat, eyes tracing the grain in the wood that ran like rivulets. He _really_ wished for that water. 

“I was interested in criminal defense,” he started slowly. “But in researching some of those cases I found it to be. . .” 

“Too bloody?” Ares asked. 

Thanatos’ eyes shot up to him. The man was deliberately working his last nerve. 

“It didn’t appeal to me,” he said. 

“Don’t like to get your hands dirty, do you?” Ares leaned back in his chair and rested one arm over the back of the one next to him. 

“I don’t mind a little dirt,” Thanatos said, not blinking or looking away. “I just prefer the _complexity_ of white-collar defense.”

Ares smiled, showing teeth. 

Athena looked to her head partner, reading him clear as day, and sighed. It seemed that a decision had been made, Thanatos could see that, but he wasn’t sure in which direction it went. He opened his mouth to say more, his accomplishments, his extracurriculars, how his mother didn’t just _hand_ out jobs. But Athena rose to her feet. 

“Well,” she said, before Thanatos could get a word in edgewise. “I think that's about all we have for you today.” 

Just like that, the interview was abruptly over. No questions for them, no opportunity to even try, no further investigation on his character or home/work life. 

Thanatos had a sinking feeling in his gut. But he rose to his feet. 

“Thank you for your time,” he said and shook Athena’s hand. 

When he took Ares’, the prosecutor stalled for a moment. His grip was tight, almost crushing. No shake, just a simple hold of the hand. 

He held Thanatos in place. 

“Thank you for your time,” he said in a smooth tone. 

He followed them back out into the lobby where the receptionist, Dusa, nervously led Thanatos to the bank of elevators he had come from, letting the large glass door close behind her and locking him out. The firm title etched in the glass glared him down threateningly. Thanatos tried to set aside the nerves that assured him he did not get the job. 

He would know when they told him. 

* * *

“Well, brother,” Athena said once the door to Ares’ office closed behind them. “Would you care to discuss your impressions or shall I have human resources get started on the paperwork?”

Ares gave an amused hum and moved to the sideboard to the left of his desk. He poured himself two fingers of scotch and then turned to Athena, holding the bottle aloft.

Athena sighed. “It’s two in the afternoon, Ares.”

Ares arched a brow. “Your point?” He stoppered the bottle and put it back in its proper place.

“Let’s just make a decision, shall we?” Athena crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s our fifth interview today, and the only one that lasted more than a couple of minutes. You liked him.”

“Blood in the water.” He’d scented Thanatos like prey, and he was long accustomed to savaging idealistic young lawyers with his teeth. He hadn’t built this firm from the ground up through kindness and charity. His ruthless reputation preceded him, a warning like a fin cresting the ocean’s surface, caught from the corner of your eye.

Fight or flight was the typical response, and most people confronted with Ares chose to flee. 

Thanatos Chthonic—young, pretty, and fresh from the bar exam, still with that new lawyer smell—stared him dead in the eye. 

This man intrigued. He might be inexperienced, but he was no wilting violet. Thanatos met Ares’ gaze with a frank, assessing stare, shoulders straight, chin up. A challenge, even while he spoke of coddling clients in a manner Ares never bothered with, even when he admitted to the nepotism that gained him the little experience he did have. But though his nerves had been obvious, Thanatos stood his ground before Ares and Athena both.

Ares respected people who looked him in the face. Not many did, and he had no interest in those who focused on his chin like anxious children instead of meeting him head on. If someone cracked beneath _his_ attention, they wouldn’t last a single day in the courtroom when met with a nightmare judge determined to make their life a living hell. 

All of the candidates they’d interviewed today had folded like a house of cards the moment Ares questioned their responses—save for one. 

“But potential as well, if he truly is willing to get more comfortable, as he claimed.” Ares drained half his tumbler and leaned back against the sideboard. “Do you agree?”

Athena nodded, brow creased in thought, a long-nailed finger tapping at her chin. “It might be interesting to see what he can do. Shall I have an offer drawn up?”

“Please do.”

“Very well.” Athena started from the office, but Ares called for her before she could step out of the room. She peered back at him over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“Make sure it’s an offer he won’t consider refusing.”

* * *

Ares had no real concerns Thanatos would refuse the offer from Mamertus, but it would be lying to deny the pleased little thrill he felt when he spotted that head of silky silver hair in the office a few days later. He might lie for his clients—or at least bend the truth until it threatened to snap—but the one person he never lied to was himself. 

So he could admit his interest in Thanatos went beyond simply his potential as a lawyer and straight to the physical as well. Truly, he couldn’t help himself. Ares appreciated the finer things in life, and Thanatos certainly was fine. A beautiful specimen of a man, hawk-eyed and sharp-jawed, and with a body he clearly kept in shape under the nice cut of his completely respectable suits.

Unlike Ares, who preferred his clothing to make bold statements, Thanatos wasn’t flashy in his attire. He wore dark, understated hues, the only pops of color being his ties, and even they were subtle—one dusty gold, another navy blue, a third in a shade of aubergine that could pass for black under the right lighting. No jewelry save for the cuff links at his wrists, and he rarely smiled as he was introduced around the office. He was utterly serious, almost severe, his speech monotone.

All told, it should have put Ares off. He thrived on passion, intensity. He had greedy, hot-blooded appetites and preferred to be met with the same, whether in the courtroom or the bedroom. And yet, Ares had an inkling that, in the case of Thanatos, it might be a matter of still waters running deep.

During the interview, he’d maintained his composure in the face of Ares’ goading, but those uncanny yellow eyes gave him away, sparking with heat despite his flat expression.

Idly, Ares wondered if Thanatos knew how vividly his emotions shone there. He doubted as much. Thanatos seemed the type who’d try to quash what he perceived as a weakness, and showing any signs of temper might indeed be a frailty in his mind. But it was that hint of fire that landed him this job.

Ares didn’t give much credence to Ivy League degrees or internship credentials. What made for a good lawyer was confidence, creative thinking, a keen eye for detail, and most importantly, the ability to fight your corner.

 _That_ was the potential he’d seen in Thanatos—and he very much hoped to be proven right.

Ares gave him a few days to settle in, deal with all the new-hire paperwork, and learn the lay of the land, before he called him and a few select others into the conference room for a debriefing.

“Last week we took on a new client,” Ares said once everyone was seated. “Milos Diamandis is facing charges of bribery, conspiracy to defraud the government, soliciting and receiving kickbacks, bid-rigging, and a host of lesser charges relating to arms trade corruption. He and fifteen others are being prosecuted by the DOJ, and as of right now, both his freedom and the reputation of his multigenerational business are on the line. Which is why he came to us.”

Ares flicked on his tablet and scanned the notes he’d been making since he got the call from Mr. Diamandis the previous week. “I will forward you all the information I’ve collected thus far. The indictments filed for this case came after a collaborative investigation by the FBI and IRS, alongside the DCIS.” Ares looked around the table, finding every gaze fixed firmly upon him. “In other words, we’re up against a few governmental titans, ladies and gentlemen, and our work will most assuredly be cut out for us.”

“Are there plea deals on the table?” Callisto, one of the junior lawyers, asked.

“A deal has been offered but refused. Several of the others who were indicted have accepted or are in talks already, but Mr. Diamandis is determined to go to trial and fight to prove his innocence.”

Thanatos looked up from his own tablet. “And _is_ he innocent?”

“I didn’t ask,” Ares said frankly. “And I highly suggest none of you attempt to do so either. Admission of guilt dramatically limits our defense strategies, and in any event, it matters very little. Innocent or guilty, our responsibility is to defend our client. We are to provide plausible alternatives to any theory the prosecution may present. If they happen to uncover evidence that casts suspicion upon Mr. Diamandis, we will work to circumvent it. That is our duty, and it will be much easier to accomplish if we presume him innocent, as is his legal right.”

Thanatos nodded slowly. “Understood. Thank you, sir.”

“I want you all to review this case file.” Ares set his tablet down and tapped the screen. “Familiarize yourselves with the details and the charges. Learn it like the back of your hand. In the morning I expect all of you to be ready to begin building our defense. For now, you’re dismissed.”

Papers shuffled and chairs creaked around the room as his team started gathering their belongings.

“Thanatos,” Ares said, catching his gaze. “A word.” He indicated a seat. “Come sit a little closer, if you would.”

Thanatos stiffened, but followed instructions without protest.

Ares nodded for Callisto to close the door behind her, and focused his attention on the young lawyer sitting primly across from him.

“Would you like to know why I chose you for this case?” he asked.

Thanatos rested his hands on the table, one over the other. Ares noted the nails were neat and buffed to a shine, perfectly manicured. Well then, Thanatos might not be showy or particularly fashionable, but it seemed he was fastidious and prideful about his appearance all the same. As he should be. They were pretty hands, fine-boned and elegant, much like the rest of him.

Thanatos met his gaze, one silvery eyebrow giving the barest lift. “Baptism by fire?” 

Ares chuckled. “Indeed. I’d like to test your mettle.” He leaned forward, steepling his fingers over the darkened tablet in front of him. “Tell me, are you already uncomfortable?”

“This is a big case.”

“That, my esteemed colleague, is an understatement.” Ares tilted his head, eyes narrowing. “It also isn’t an answer to my question.”

“I am,” Thanatos admitted. His gaze didn’t waver, but Ares noticed his throat work as he swallowed. “I wouldn’t want to be the weak link in this scenario. I know I’m new, and perhaps some will consider me undeserving of being assigned to a case like this.”

“Does that bother you?”

Thanatos lifted his chin. “No.”

“Good.” Ares nodded, approving. “These sorts of arms trade corruption cases have the potential to earn international recognition for a firm like ours. When you read the file you’ll see that the kickbacks involved here are to the tune of millions, bordering on _billions_. Those are taxpayer dollars, and the government will want its pound of flesh from every single person involved. Some of them have taken deals, some grouped together for representation, and some, like Mr. Diamandis, sought legal counsel individually. He is, to put it bluntly, a big fish in this case. A president of one of the companies involved, not simply a low-level underling. The prosecutors will be out for blood.”

“We’ll have a lot of work to do, then.”

Ares grinned, flashing teeth. “That we will.”

“I’m not afraid of hard work,” Thanatos said, his eyes sparking the way they had during the interview.

Oh, yes, Ares liked that look on him. Fire under the ice. Ares wanted to melt him.

He put the thought aside. For now.

“I’m pleased to hear that,” he said, instead of the lurid things he might prefer to say. “To the jury, Mr. Diamandis will be a villain of the highest order. To defraud the government is one thing. To do so for personal gain at the expense of the common citizen is quite another. The amount of money that exchanged hands and greased palms in this situation is unfathomable to the average person.” 

Ares leaned back in his chair. “There will be a degree of resentment involved on the part of these jurors. At the end of the day, they’re regular civilians tasked with making decisions about subject matters they have no experience with or comprehension of. It’s easy to let emotion overshadow their decisions, but our responsibility is to remind them of their commitment to objectivity and impartiality.”

Thanatos nodded, straightened his shoulders. Not that anything about his posture invited criticism to begin with, but Ares appreciated the gesture. “I’m grateful for the opportunity you’ve given me, Mr. Mamertus. This is quite the case to cut my teeth on.”

“Ares. We’ll be spending a lot of time together from here on out. I don’t require such formality from my colleagues.”

Thanatos hesitated, wetting his mouth.

Ares’ eyes caught on the gleam of moisture left on his lower lip. It was a sign of nerves, nothing more, but the sight of it tempted him anyway.

“Ares,” Thanatos repeated, his voice low enough the sound of Ares’ name on his tongue began to heat Ares’ blood. A light flush stained his cheeks. “Thank you.”

“Oh, no need to thank me.” And he wouldn’t be offering gratitude, Ares suspected, if Thanatos knew the turn of his thoughts. “You may go. We’ll speak again in the morning.”

With a dip of his chin, Thanatos collected his tablet and notepad and left the room.

Ares would have liked to say he didn’t watch him walk away, didn’t admire the breadth of his shoulders or the length of his legs, but he most definitely did.

He tipped back his chair, chuckling to himself. Case aside—and it might prove to be one hell of a case—he had a feeling things were about to get interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanatos is conflicted and Ares is thirsty af.

Thanatos poked at a limp green leaf for the second time, but paid it no heed. His eyes were securely fixed on the file in front of him. He didn’t need to read it, having consumed it so many times he could have recited the entire thing front to back. He hoped that something would jump out to spark some sort of inspiration, some avenue that he had yet to tread. 

Diamandis was guilty. He was guilty as hell. Thanatos read the man’s emails that had yet to be subpoenaed and submitted to court, but he was guilty as hell. 

They were attempting to play off plausible deniability, that the kickbacks had been arranged by his coworkers and he simply had no idea of what had been going on, but Thanatos read the words in the printouts over and over again, trying to find some clever way to twist them around to appear true and innocent. 

The man was so so very guilty. 

Thanatos stabbed his salad again with a vengeance. 

He had once been told that he was too honest, too earnest, to a fault. He could keep certain things close to the chest, that was true. Not everything needed to be shared with the world, but when asked, Thanatos always had a hard time lying. 

He was a pretty bad liar. Not ideal for law. 

Thanatos huffed and rested the file down on his desk. What the team needed to do was find a way to separate Mr. Diamandis from the rest of his colleagues, some of whom had already pleaded guilty in order to just get off with a settlement and a slap on the wrist. 

Milos Diamandis wanted to keep his integrity intact and which was why he hired Mamertus & Associates, P.C in the first place.

Thanatos was in way over his head. 

“You keep frowning like that you’ll get wrinkles.” 

In more ways than one. 

Thanatos turned to look up at his new boss. 

Mr. Mamertus. . . Ares had been nothing but pure intimidation during the interview and Thanatos was still waiting for that to let up. The way he looked at Thanatos, just daring him to run, put Thanatos on edge. A base instinct of fight or flight fluttered up his throat every time they were alone together, which was more often than Thanatos would have liked. 

The man made him uncomfortable.

“And that would be such a shame,” Ares said.

Thanatos tried to give his boss an impassive stare, but simply went back to his salad. He could take a bite, occupy his mouth so he wouldn’t have to speak, but instead he just twirled his fork. 

Ares took a step closer, his hands behind his back. He looked over the empty desks that surrounded Thanatos. 

“It's lunch,” he mused. “You should take a break.” 

“I would only be thinking of the case if I left anyway,” he said, eyes down on the salad. 

“You have a poor work life balance it seems,” Ares said, coming to stand at Thanatos’ side. 

“With all due respect, sir, you’re also here,” Thanatos said. 

Ares chuckled, folded his arms, and leaned against Thanatos’ desk. The cheap pinewood of the cubicles shifted against his weight and Thanatos did the same, subconsciously sliding the rollers of his chair a half inch away from his boss. 

“So you think of me someone to look up to, is that it?” Ares said. 

“Well, you do own your own law firm,” Thanatos said, trying to maintain eye contact. He failed, looking down and licking his lips just to wet them. 

Ares had a way of making his mouth go dry and silent. 

He could feel the shark’s smile on the back of his neck. 

Ares leaned in closer, resting a hand on Thanatos’ desk. Thanatos’ whole attention went to it, cataloging neatly clipped nails of identical length and the class ring that looked freshly cleaned. Ares shifted the array of papers, pulling aside the offending documentation. 

“Have you found a plan of attack?” he asked, quietly, heard through the sound of the overhead white noise machine. No need to be anything louder than library levels at that distance.

Thanatos held his breath, if only to avoid inhaling the scent of Ares’ intoxicating cologne.

“He’s very guilty,” Thanatos mumbled without thinking about it. 

Ares huffed out a little laugh. Thanatos could feel it on his neck.

“That's not for us to decide,” Ares said. “We’re here to defend him, not pass judgement.” 

Thanatos had to breathe at some point. He swallowed heavily, feeling the loom of Ares’ form just shy of pressing up against him. His cologne was subtle, a scent that wasn’t sold in department stores, something that probably had to be special ordered. At that distance it became Thanatos’ world and perfumed his salad. 

Briefly, Thanatos wondered how he would taste. 

Thanatos stabbed his lettuce again, catching a tomato and making it bleed. 

“Look at his emails,” Thanatos said. “It's clear Diamandis knew about the kickbacks. Even if there's no proof that he acted, clearly implicated in the correspondence. The second these emails are subpoenaed–”

“Make it less enticing for the prosecution to subpoena his emails then,” Ares said. 

“What?” Thanatos looked up again. 

Ares was close enough that Thanatos could feel his breath. Or at least a heat that he thought was Ares. All Thanatos had to do was stand up a little, lean in a little, and he could. . . 

“That's a good starting point,” Ares said. “We’ll come up with a defense to make the prosecution believe it's not in their best interest to subpoena his emails, that it will only work against them. From there we can develop secondary defenses if they do. Good work, Chthonic.” 

Ares pat the back of Thanatos’ chair and rose, moving his heat and that scent away from Thanatos. What should have made it easier to clear Thanatos’ head only made him want to keep talking, to keep his boss near. Thanatos edged his chair closer. 

“We’ll bring this up when we reconvene after lunch,” Ares said, scooping the printouts off Thanatos’ desk. “Eat your food, we have work to do.” 

Thanatos could only nod and watch as his boss walked away.

Ignoring the heat in his face, Thanatos shoved leafy greens into his mouth and ignored the lingering scent of his boss. 

* * *

A series of rapid buzzes drew Ares’ attention away from his computer. He lifted his head and cracked his neck, ignoring the vibrations of his phone for the time being. 

He’d caught a glimpse of the name on the screen—Aphrodite, his sister. Favorite sibling or not, she could wait. She was probably only texting to gush about her latest girlfriend again. Some bouncer from Club Tartarus, if Ares remembered correctly. Meg? Medea? It was difficult to keep track of the names. Aphrodite fell out of love as quickly as she fell into it, but she seemed especially taken with this woman. Maybe this one would last. 

In any case, Ares would video chat her later to make up for not responding right away.

Dimly, he noted the darkened windows that made up the far wall of his office, and beyond, the familiar lights of the city skyline, a riot of bright colors and towering shapes against the inky night sky. 

It had to be some time after seven, maybe eight. Too quiet to be any earlier, no hum of conversation or clacking of keyboards. Everyone else must’ve headed home already. He vaguely remembered Dusa bidding him goodbye before she left, and she was usually the last of the administrative staff to depart.

How many hours ago had that been? 

He’d lost the entire afternoon and part of his evening to research—his least favorite part of the job. Ares loathed the tedium of dry legal texts or sifting through business documents or medical records, though as a matter of pride, he did it well. He wouldn’t fail a client by being anything less than thorough, but where he truly thrived was in a courtroom, with a captive audience hanging on his every word. 

If Ares possessed a singular talent, it was the old razzle-dazzle. Divert, distract. He had a flashy act down to an artform, couched in enough politeness and refinement the judges almost never called him on his bullshit, even when they were well within their rights to do so. Research was merely part of the process to get him to where he best performed. A necessary step, but mind-numbing all the same.

As if coming online now that he wasn’t caught up in work, Ares’ stomach grumbled. He couldn’t recall the last time he ate. At some point earlier in the day he’d washed down a tasteless energy bar with his umpteenth cup of coffee, but man could not live on caffeine and a handful of carbs and protein alone. He needed an actual meal, and more importantly, he needed out of this chair. Ergonomic designs could only help so much when he spent more hours seated than he did standing. His shoulders were stiff. His legs and hips, too.

Sighing, Ares tugged the blue light blocking glasses off his face, tossed them onto the desk, and massaged the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t used to wearing them yet. He only gave in to his optometrist’s urging to purchase a pair when he started developing headaches from all the time he spent staring at screens.

His age was perhaps beginning to catch up to him. Not something he liked to think about, so Ares cast the thought aside and got to his feet.

He grabbed his phone, collected his bag and jacket, ready to depart and pick up some butter chicken on the way home. But once he stepped into the outer office, he noticed a light on at one of the desks and a familiar head of silver hair bent over a stack of papers.

“Thanatos,” he called out as he approached.

The younger lawyer startled in his seat, his golden gaze jerking to Ares.

“What did I say about work-life balance?” Ares asked, pausing next to Thanatos’ chair.

“To do as you say, not as you do,” Thanatos offered with a wry twist to his mouth.

Ares couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes, I know. I’m still here, too, but I’m leaving now, as you can see. I suggest you join me. Whatever you’re doing can certainly wait until morning.”

Thanatos huffed out a sigh, turning back to his papers. “I think I found something we can use.”

“Well,” Ares said, “it’s safe to assume we’re probably the last people in the building right now. Why don’t you tell me about it on the way out?”

Thanatos looked like he might argue, but when his eyes met Ares’ and found only the steel Ares put there reflected back, his shoulders slumped and he lost his bluster. “Just a moment, then, sir.”

“Ares.”

“Of course.”

Ares stepped back to give Thanatos room. In a matter of moments, he cleared his desk, locked away sensitive paperwork, and grabbed his satchel from the bottom drawer. He clicked off the lamp, and Ares gestured for Thanatos to precede him out of the office and to the elevators.

“So tell me what you’ve found, then,” Ares said as they waited.

Thanatos cleared his throat, but kept his gaze on the elevator doors. “I think we can use something I found in the company phone transcripts to support Diamandis’s claim of ignorance.”

Ares turned toward him more fully. “Oh?”

Thanatos shot him a quick glance. His arms were crossed over his chest. Defensive. Nervous as he always was whenever they were left alone and he had no one else to use as a convenient buffer. “Every employee signs an agreement regarding phone and privacy policies upon being hired. They’re aware the company phones aren’t intended for personal use, and that every call stands the chance of being recorded for quality control.”

The elevator arrived with a _ding_ , and the doors slid open. Ares let Thanatos go first, then pressed the button for the underground parking garage and gestured for Thanatos to continue. 

“Well.” Thanatos shifted to the side, putting a few more inches between them. He stopped then and stood stiffly, as if wanting to move farther away but struggling to not seem impolite. “Someone on the payroll either forgot or didn’t think he’d get caught. I read a couple of conversations involving one of Diamandis’s employees. It seems like he was trying to make a side deal.” 

Ares moved a little closer, just because. “Go on.”

“He—” Thanatos looked at him, lifted his chin, but didn’t back away. “He mentions something about Diamandis. How he doesn’t know, how he isn’t as clever as he thinks he is. I’m paraphrasing, but… that’s the gist of the conversation.”

“Good,” Ares said. “We may be able to use that to our advantage. The prosecution will get their hands on Diamandis’s emails. It’s inevitable. We’ll just have to put a spin on those and give them a juicier bone to chase. See that those transcripts are on my desk first thing in the morning.”

Thanatos nodded but was silent otherwise for the rest of the descent to the garage.

Ares had a reserved space—a benefit to owning the law firm that took up an entire floor of the building—but he bypassed the spot marked with his name, asking where Thanatos’ vehicle was and insisting on walking him there.

“You really don’t have to,” Thanatos protested. “Nothing will happen. This isn’t some seedy facility. There are cameras everywhere.”

Ares held his arm out. “All the same.”

Thanatos sighed, but started moving once it was apparent Ares wouldn’t budge about this.

The car he eventually stopped at was dark, a nice older sedan, kept in good condition but rather nondescript. Ares would have liked to see Thanatos behind the wheel of something far prettier.

“This is mine.” Thanatos clicked a button on his key fob to unlock the doors. “Thanks for getting me here safe and sound.”

Ares grinned at the hint of snark in his tone. He stepped closer, resting his hand at the small of Thanatos’ back. “You did well finding those conversations,” he said, letting his own voice dip lower than normal, to something more suited to the bedroom than a parking garage that smelled like gasoline and exhaust fumes. “I know it can’t have been very… titillating reading through thousands of call transcripts. Someone else might have cut corners and missed crucial details. But not you.”

The bump in Thanatos’s neck bobbed as he swallowed. He turned his head, not quite meeting Ares’ eyes, not quite moving away from his touch either. “I’m very detail-oriented, and I don’t miss much. I can handle whatever tasks you throw at me, no matter how hard.”

Ares’ grin widened. “I’m glad to hear it.” He allowed his fingers to slide an inch or so lower. Not far enough to be improper, but enough so that Thanatos felt the drag and weight of his touch.

He responded beautifully—with a tiny shiver and a soft little bitten-off noise. It wasn’t a moan, it wasn’t much more than a huff, but Ares could tell from the shock on Thanatos’ face that he hadn’t meant to let it escape.

Ares dropped his arm and retreated a couple of steps. “Have a good night, Thanatos.”

With a jerky nod, Thanatos all but wrenched his door open and scrambled into the driver’s seat.

Ares turned, whistling, and left him to it. But that little noise? Oh, he’d liked that very much. He already wanted to hear it again.

* * *

“That's roughly when the mariachi band entered the train and my day was completely made!” 

Thanatos was only half aware of the words in the conversation he was supposed to be participating in. He leaned against his hand, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into his temple. It could have been misconstrued as base line irritation at the tale that was woven before him, but his mind was a million miles away. 

Stuck in a garage with an intense weight pressed to his back. Dwelling on the looming presence that would come to check on him in the middle of the day. 

A voice that would have been soothing if it wasn’t laced with so much promise. 

Thanatos pressed a little harder. 

“So naturally I was excited and let it be known, as you know. Did the whole clapping hands and hooray thing!” 

Ares had been correct about a lot of things, but one stuck out in particular: Thanatos’ work-life balance was absolutely in the shitter. He got to work early, he left it late. He took his work home with him and would camp out at his desk. When he wasn’t physically in the act of doing work, he would be thinking about it. 

His thoughts had detoured. While still stuck in the office, it wasn’t the usual fare. Nothing about his case work, his paperwork, his research. Not waiting for his mind to quiet when he would come up with a brilliant angle to tackle a problem. No longer building a case in his mind. 

No. His thoughts drifted to the cut of a white suit, the fullness of lips. Dark eyes that clearly swept him over. 

The hand on his back. 

“And the guy next to me had the _audacity_ to give me a kick, like I did something wrong! He was the one not showing proper appreciation for our on track entertainment.” 

Thanatos had never been this distracted before. He hadn’t had idle thoughts like this. He hadn’t been what one would call active in college. Zagreus had been a brief experimentation and there wasn’t a parade of people coming in and out of their dorm room, but that had never bothered Thanatos before. He had never wanted for a long term relationship, sexual or otherwise. He simply had never shown the interest. Work came first, school came first, what was important came first. Why follow in line and fall into someone’s bed just because everyone else was doing it? 

Thanatos had never wanted anyone before. He had been approached, sure. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what he looked like, but never with such brazen confidence. Never with the stress and promise that Thanatos wanted to chase. 

Never from a man quite as beautiful as Ares. 

Thanatos had a hard time formulating the thought, swirling around like words on his tongue. The way he scanned Ares, the way he developed a rapt attention to hang on every word the man said. How he smelled, the sound of his voice, how he was just a little taller than Thanatos, just enough that when he stood close, Thanatos had to tilt his head. . . 

“The band played and afterwards they actually thought I had money to–” 

“I’m attracted to my boss.” 

Hypnos’ mouth snapped shut and Charon turned his attention from one brother to the next, eyes wide behind tinted glasses. 

It was their little tradition. Once every so often, Thanatos and his brothers met for lunch or coffee or an outing of one sort or another. If a new exhibit in the science museum opened up or it was sunny enough for a walk through a trail. That particular day Charon was treating them to a nice lunch out. The restaurant had opened their large windows and a summer breeze ruffled the curtains that had been tied in place. It was a small venue, dark despite or due to the sunlight that streamed through, the high contrast creating a deep shade throughout the restaurant. The ice clinked in Charon’s glass as it melted, Hypnos had been chewing his, Thanatos had gone through three already. 

He looked up to his brothers, only half aware of the words that had escaped his lips. An admittance that he had kept deep within himself and hadn’t had the stomach to even whisper when he was alone in his room. They burbled over, spilling out. 

Thanatos slowly raised his eyes to look at his flabbergasted brothers, face prickling with heat. 

Hypnos was the first to move. 

He barked out a little laugh, his whole body jolting from it. 

“Really!?” he asked a little too loud.

Thanatos groaned and hid his face into his hands. 

“For really real?” Hypnos’ voice cracked. “Do you really actually truly and in total fact like someone?” 

“Hypnos,” Thanatos pleaded. 

“Like like _like_ someone!?” 

Thanatos glared through his fingers, pulling at his lower lids as he did. 

“What are we, eleven?” he asked. 

“Aw c’mon, Thanatos, when was the last time you actually like _liked_ someone?” Hypnos leaned against his fist.

Words choked in Thanatos’ throat and he could only make small clicked sounds of indignance. Hands held palm up in question, he looked around the restaurant for an answer and found none. He threw his hands up in the air. 

“When you were eleven?” Hypnos asked playfully. 

Thanatos groaned and dropped his face into his palms with a smack. He hid behind them, hoping that if he closed his eyes tight enough he might be able to disappear. 

“Is he hot?” Hypnos asked. 

“Hypnos,” Thanatos warned, mouth contorted behind his hands. 

“Well is he?” 

Thanatos dropped his hands on the table and the glasses rattled from the force of it. 

“Yes Hypnos he’s–” Clawed hands came up in the air, as if to strangle his brother, but ineffectual in the end. He _hurk_ ’d out another contemptuous sound before conceding defeat again.

Attraction to others was not a foreign concept to Thanatos. He’d had his flings, his moments. He knew what was objectively beautiful. He’d seen conformity and the heights of it. How those who fit a certain mold stood out if they were handsome enough. 

Ares didn’t conform. 

He had chosen a unique style all his own that was just a shade off of what was mainstream. The neat line where his hair had been shaved, how the long of it flopped over, a pristine white that could not have been natural, but what if it was? And he was so big. The way he filled out those suits that had been tailored to perfection had enraptured Thanatos’ imagination. 

But it was the confidence. The way Ares wore it like a second skin. Brazen and daring anyone to call him out on the slight shifts he had taken from the middle lane. 

Thanatos had tried to meet and it had knocked him off his feet. 

All the little details had been adding up to a whole that Thanatos had seen upon their first meet, but it was only a scratch on the surface. Each and every new inch of the man that was revealed to him stirred Thanatos’ imaginations. When he lay in his room late at night where no one could see him, but Thanatos still refrained. Not admitting it. 

Until it just dropped out in front of his family. 

“I don’t know what to do,” Thanatos groaned. He went for his glass forgetting he had already drained it and held its emptiness to his lips. 

“Have you tried telling him?” 

Thanatos gave his twin a blank stare. His cup clinked hollowly on the table. 

“What?” Hypnos said. “It could work.” 

“He’s my boss, Hypnos,” Thanatos said. 

“What do you have to lose?” 

“My job, for one!” 

“Okay then,” Hypnos said. “Just sleep with him.” 

Thanatos flinched and raised his hands again to _strangle_ his brother, stopping shy of committing fratricide right then and there over their pasta. Instead, he looked to his usually silent older brother who was suspiciously more silent that morning. 

Charon had been doing his best impression of a statue, preferably a shrinking one, if not invisible. At Thanatos’ attention, he slunk lower into his chair, ready to slide all the way down to the floor. Thanatos pleaded with his eyes. 

_‘Please don’t ask me,’_ Charon said with his hands. 

“Charon,” Thanatos said. “What would you do?” 

_‘. . . ask Hermes.’_

“You can’t hide behind Hermes forever,” Thanatos hissed. 

_‘Watch me.’_

Thanatos sucked in a deep breath and placed his fingertips to his temple, rubbing once more. The wrought iron of the table pressed into his arms painfully. He closed his eyes tight enough to see starbursts of color.

The admittance that just dropped from him could not be taken back. The genie was out of its bottle. It wasn’t just in the public forum of his brothers but his own knowledge. 

He had been touched by Ares.

And he liked it. 

“I still say just sleep with him,” Hypnos said. 

Thanatos groaned and thunked his head to the table. 

* * *

When Ares was feeling particularly pent-up, sparring was his exercise of choice. There was an art to it, steps and actions that made it like a dance—dodge, duck, and parry, swift feet and grace. It wasn’t meant to be an actual boxing match, no one was supposed to be hurt, not here in this particular gym, but he’d been fortunate enough to find a few partners who were willing to go hard and get sweaty. 

This one, Markos, was his favorite. The guy was compact and a full head shorter than Ares, but aggressive and quick as hell. He’d come in and land a punch before Ares had time to react sometimes, and it was only Ares’ longer reach that allowed him to occasionally clip him back.

Drops of sweat flew as Ares connected with a sharp right hook. They both wore padded headgear and gloves, which Ares would have forgone if not for the rules of the facility, so the blow stunned Markos slightly and made him stagger back a few steps, but didn’t break skin or draw blood. Markos only grinned at him around his mouthguard, the feral little shit, and Ares grinned in return.

“Nice one,” Markos slurred, and then he dashed forward and drove a fist into Ares’ side.

Ares let out an _oof_ and side-stepped to avoid another strike. Markos darted out of reach and in again, speedy as a little hummingbird. Ares managed to block, barely, but then his eyes landed on something outside the ring, across the open floor near the windows, and the second blow found its mark. 

Ares doubled over with a grunt, and Markos laughed.

“You’re getting slow, old man,” he said. Then his gaze caught on what had snagged Ares’ attention, and his smile broadened. “Or you’re just distracted, but I can’t say I blame you.”

Ares straightened, noting the dull tenderness at his side. A quick mental catalog of the rest of his body found a few spots that might bruise, but there was nothing he couldn’t handle. Gloves only protected so much, and he always savored the ache after a particularly intense match.

“Friend of yours?” Markos asked as he stripped his gloves, and because they’d been sparring for months and Ares liked the guy, he answered.

“Coworker.”

Markos planted his wrapped hands on his hips. “See, why do none of my coworkers look like that? That’s a solid ten if I’ve ever seen one. That _ass_ , man, I—”

“I’d suggest you don’t look too hard,” Ares interrupted darkly.

Markos tipped his head back to smirk at him. “Oh, yeah? Staked a claim on that, then?”

Ares shook his head. “No.” _Not yet._

“But you want to. Say no more, friend, I’ll keep my eyes to myself. Mostly.” Markos dodged Ares' half-hearted swipe and danced back a few steps. “Go again on Friday?”

“With pleasure.”

“Awesome.” Markos collected his belongings and left the ring with as much bouncy energy as he’d entered it.

Ares dipped between the ropes, stripped his own protective gear and deposited it in the bin to be sanitized later, his eyes never leaving his quarry.

Thanatos was running on a treadmill, earbuds in place, and his ass bouncing within a miniscule pair of athletic shorts. Not only were they tiny, they were _tight_. Ares imagined if he got closer, he might be able to see the outline of Thanatos’ cock through the clingy material.

Well, no time like the present to find out.

Ares didn’t care much for running, but he went to the treadmill next to the one Thanatos was using anyway.

Thanatos was so focused on his run and whatever he was listening to, his eyes trained on the street outside the window, it took him a couple minutes to notice who was steadily jogging beside him.

He caught a glimpse of Ares out of the corner of his eye, turned his head—and promptly lost his footing.

Thanatos stumbled. Ares, who was jogging at a much more casual pace, flung out a hand to catch him by his upper arm. 

Between that stabilizing grip and Thanatos’ own quick reflexes, he managed to right himself after a second.

“All right?” Ares asked.

Thanatos nodded but didn’t speak, a flush high on his cheekbones. 

Ares stayed next to him while Thanatos cooled down and followed as Thanatos stepped off his treadmill. In silence, they sprayed and wiped down the equipment utilizing the supplies the gym provided.

“Just cardio today?” Ares asked, falling in step with Thanatos as the younger lawyer started toward the locker rooms. “I humbly offer myself as a spotter if you plan on doing any lifting.”

“Thanks, but I’m finished for tonight,” Thanatos said, finally. He sounded a little gruff, likely embarrassment from the near-accident earlier. “I prefer to alternate days.”

Ares nodded. “That’s wise. Was this your first time here? I assume someone told you about the discount?”

Thanatos glanced at him sideways. “Dusa did. But, no, it’s my second time. I was here on Monday.”

“I’m here several nights a week. It’s a good way to work out stress, though not my preferred method of building up a sweat, of course.”

Thanatos darted another look at him. His tongue made an appearance, wetting his lower lip. “Oh?” he said after a moment.

Ares smirked. “Would you like me to go into details?”

Thanatos yanked his gaze away, cleared his throat, reached up to grab the ends of the towel draped over his neck. “That won’t be necessary.”

Ares stepped a little closer. “You’re not curious at all?”

“I can picture it perfectly well.”

“Is that so?” Ares leaned into his space, catching the scent of sweat beneath the cologne Thanatos wore to the office. It made Ares want to gobble him up, press him up against the wall right then and there and stake the claim Markos asked about. “Are you implying you’ve imagined it, then, Mr. Chthonic?”

Thanatos sucked in a sharp breath, but ignored the question, turning away to push into the men’s locker room. The changing area was empty; only the distant sound of running water came from the direction of the area housing both the showers and restroom stalls.

Chuckling softly, Ares went to grab his toiletry bag from his locker and headed to the showers without trying to make more conversation. Maybe he could catch Thanatos before he left, invite him for a drink. They hadn’t spent any time alone outside of the office—if one didn’t count the parking garage—and Ares very much hoped to change that soon.

He showered using quick, cursory motions, not giving in to the temptation to linger over his cock to the memory of Thanatos’ ass in those tiny shorts and that flimsy, form-fitting shirt that molded to his well-built chest in the best possible way. The real thing was a stall or two away, dripping wet, soap suds trailing over firm muscle and olive skin, collecting in grooves Ares fantasized about tracing with his tongue. He wanted to stalk over, push past the curtain, and test how far Thanatos would let him go.

Ares checked the impulse and stepped under the spray to rinse off, twisting the knob to make the water run cooler. It was too early for such blatant aggression, though it went against his very nature to proceed with caution. No one had ever called Ares subtle, but he could make himself less of a hatchet and more of a fine blade when the situation required, and of all the men he’d seduced over the years, Thanatos needed to be handled with the most delicacy. Patience was the order of the day, as much as Ares loathed having to wait for _anything_.

When he finished showering, he turned off the water with a frustrated flick of his wrist. He re-entered the changing area, a towel fastened low on his hips and his hair dripping cold water onto his shoulders.

To his surprise, Thanatos was already there, seated on one of the benches and mostly dressed. Dark slacks—the same he’d worn at the office—an undershirt, polished shoes on his feet, and a dress shirt hanging unbuttoned as he applied deodorant. Silver hair fell about his face, heavy with the moisture he hadn’t bothered to dry all the way.

Thanatos certainly appeared to be in a hurry to get out of the place. Ares smiled to himself as he considered the implications.

“That was fast,” he said casually, shoving the toiletry bag back onto the shelf in his locker. “You beat my time.”

Thanatos’ chin lifted. He startled in surprise when he saw Ares standing there, nude save for the rectangle of white terry cloth covering his groin, but his gaze lingered on Ares’ abdomen for long enough Ares flexed a little out of sheer vanity, just to give him a show.

The response was a swallow so hard Ares heard the click in Thanatos’ throat. “I… I didn’t realize it was a competition.”

Ares’ smile widened. “Everything’s a competition.” And he intended to win this one… eventually.

With a firm tug, Ares undid the knot at his hip and let the damp towel drop to the floor. Plenty of men sauntered around the locker room with their packages swinging freely; this wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary. Besides, a _little_ boldness would not go amiss. Ares might be able to blunt his sharp edges, but at the end of the day, he was still himself.

And Thanatos reacted exactly as Ares expected. Hoped for. 

He jerked his head to the side—then almost immediately, those lupin eyes swung back to him, pupils dilating as Thanatos drank in the view.

Ares knew he was well-endowed, long and thick even when soft. Under Thanatos’ attention, he wouldn’t stay that way long. Blood rushed south, and the length of it began to stiffen.

Thanatos dropped the stick of deodorant. He blinked twice, slowly, as if surfacing from a dream, before bending to pick up the plastic tube. “I—I have to go.”

“Must you?” Ares idly reached into the locker for a fresh pair of black briefs. “I thought we might go for a drink, if you have time.”

Thanatos jumped to his feet. “Oh, no, I… Ah, I have plans already. Meeting my brothers for a late dinner, and I’m already behind schedule. But I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.” He flashed Ares a strained smile, then snatched his bag off the bench and made a beeline for the door. Only, at the very last second, he looked back.

Ares smirked at him and turned slightly toward his locker to offer Thanatos a glimpse of the curve of his bare ass. He didn’t mind being naked in front of others. He’d worked hard to hone his body into a weapon, crafted and molded every muscle until his form became an object of pride. Some called him an egotist as a result. Their opinions mattered not at all.

Thanatos’ opinion, though. That interested Ares very much indeed.

But Thanatos wrenched his gaze away and fled without another word, his shoulder clipping the doorframe as he practically bolted from the room.

Ares didn’t laugh at the blunder. Thanatos left his head spinning, too. Sooner or later, one way or another, the tension between them would reach its breaking point.

He couldn’t wait to see what happened when Thanatos’ cool veneer finally cracked.

**Author's Note:**

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> 
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